White House Doctored Photo With AI to Make It Look Like an Activist Was Sobbing During Perp Walk

The White House used a photo that was digitally altered in its PR campaign against resistance to the federal agents’ assault on Minnesota.

A Google digital watermarking system initially flagged that the image had been manipulated with Google’s AI tools. Later tests after the publication of this article resulted in different responses — raising questions about the consistency of Google’s SynthID system.

In the original photo, local civil rights activist Nekima Levy Armstrong was shown being escorted by authorities after her arrest in connection to a protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at Cities Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

The version published by the White House’s official X account showed an image that had been altered to make it appear as if Levy Armstrong were openly weeping.

did the White House digitally alter this image of Nekima Levy to make her cry??? bizarre, dark stuff… https://t.co/COHjc4jQjZ pic.twitter.com/w2Sjv14za1

— Peter Twinklage (@PeterTwinklage) January 22, 2026

“I was there when they arrested her, and she definitely wasn’t crying — she was calm, rational, and dignified,” said Jordan Kushner, an attorney for Levy Armstrong. “This is part and parcel of a fascist regime where they literally invent reality to serve their fascist agenda.”

According to an initial Intercept analysis using Google SynthID — a program that identifies hidden markers used by Google AI tools on photos — the photo had been altered with the tech giant’s generative AI tools. Subsequent tests at Google’s request produced inconsistent results. Though Google’s tool initially stated that the crying image had been manipulated using its AI, a later test claimed that image was authentic. (A Google spokesperson said, “We’re trying to understand the discrepancy” — but did not answer repeated questions about it.)

In response to questions about the altered photo, a spokesperson for the White House referred The Intercept to a tweet from White House spokesperson Kaelan Dorr lashing out at “the people who feel the need to reflexively defend perpetrators of heinous crimes in our country.”

“Enforcement of the law will continue,” wrote Dorr. “The memes will continue.”

The original, unaltered image showing Levy Armstrong looking stalwart first appeared on the web in a pair of tweets by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, according to several image search engine tools.

About a half hour later, the White House posted its altered image showing Levy Armstrong in tears — including text labeling her as a “far-left agitator” and accusing her of “orchestrating church riots.”

The White House X account appears to have been the first place the altered image appeared on the web, according to the image search tools.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Levy Armstrong’s arrest on Thursday. Along with Chauntyll Louisa Allen and William Kelly, Levy Armstrong faces charges under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, a 1994 law designed to limit anti-abortion protesters from impeding patients from seeking care.

The arrests followed days of outrage online from the right over a protest on Sunday in which anti-ICE demonstrators entered the Cities Church, where a local ICE official serves as a pastor, according to The Associated Press.

“Religious freedom is the bedrock of this country,” Bondi wrote on X Thursday. “We will protect our pastors. We will protect our churches. We will protect Americans of faith.”

Jeffrey Lichtman, a defense attorney with numerous high-profile federal cases under his belt, told The Intercept that the post could conceivably have a prejudicial effect as the case against her proceeds.

“This altered photo makes her look weak and scared, and some people may interpret that as guilt,” Lichtman said. “I’d try to use it as evidence that this was a political prosecution. This isn’t, like, some aide that works in a congressional office somewhere, this is the White House, and it’s clear the White House controls Pam Bondi, and she’s the one responsible for this arrest.”

Ron Kuby, a veteran civil rights lawyer, told The Intercept that the problem lay less in the meme than in the prosecution itself.

“As a defense lawyer, I’d work hard to make sure it wasn’t repeated, but it’s not going to result in dismissal of charges or any meaningful sanction from a judge,” Kuby said. “This is just Thursday in America. The outrage is not the graphic — the outrage is that they turned a simple disorderly conduct case into a federal prosecution for their propaganda efforts.”

Update: January 22, 2026, 5:27 p.m. ET
This story has been updated to reflect that Google declined to comment.

Update: January 24, 2026
This article and its headline were updated after subsequent tests of Google’s AI watermarking tool provided inconsistent responses about whether the image the White House posted on X had been manipulated by Google’s own AI tools.